Vietnam Center & Archive News and Updates

The United States Navy was created on October 13, 1775 during the American Revolution. Today the Navy celebrates its 234th birthday. In order to celebrate this wonderful occasion the Vietnam Archive would like to present a few Navy items from our collections.

Please enjoy the materials and help us to congratulate all of the Navy personnel past and present on their big day.

Commander U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam, A U.S. Navy River Patrol Boat Cruises slowly down a canal in the Mekong Delta of S. Vietnam. The 31 Foot craft Patrol the Waterways of the Mekong Delta and rung Sat Special Zone to prevent the Viet Cong from moving supplies by water. The PBRs are propelled by water jets and can travel in water less than a foot deep.

Biggest Ship in the U. S. Army is one of a Kind (Official Department of Defense motion picture film by the U. S. Army under the direction of the MACV Office of Information. Photography by SP5′s Sylvia, Morgan and Watson: Sound by Lt. Sheets.) The largest ship in the Army is the 4800 ton cargo vessel, John U. D. Page. The Page is 338 feet long, 65 feet in beam, and can carry up to 2000 tons of cargo. The Page’s official designation is BDL 1-X, which stands for Beach Discharge Lighter, Number One, Experimental. She’s one of a kind, and her ability to transport huge loads of ammunition and rolling stock on intra-coastal missions up and down the coast of Vietnam makes her an important part of the military effort there. For all her size, the Page can take on cargo or off-load on the beach. Currently, she loads at Cam Ranh Bay and sails from there to Phan Thiet, Phan Rang or Nha Trang, averaging one run every two days. Her eight warrant officers and 36 enlisted men live in the toadstool-like superstructure rising from her cargo deck. The quarters are roomy and air-conditioned, and assignments on the Page are coveted by all Army “sailors”. One of the more noteworthey characteristics of the big flat-bottomed ship is her maneuverability. She is powered by two giant “eggbeater” blades which can be set at various angles. They’re positioned side-by-side just aft of mid-ship. The resulting ability to thrust in any direction allows the ship to make a full circle within her own length. This design has been applied to some European vessels, but has never been used in the American Merchant Marine or the U. S. Navy.

Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Frances T. Shea Buckley served in the Nurse Corps, U.S. Navy during the Vietnam Conflict. With the ranking of Rear Admiral, she has achieved the highest rank held by women of the U.S. Uniformed Services.

(USN) Captain Frick was present aboard the USS Maddox during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. He served as a Lieutenant, Junior Grade and acted as Division Operations Officer. His duty station put Frick on the bridge, in CIC (Command Information Center) and the radio room. In his lengthy interview, Frick recounts his experience during the North Vietnamese attack on 2 August and the controversial events of 4 August in the Gulf of Tonkin. Frick discusses the role of the ships involved in the incident, orders received by the Maddox and speculates on the significance of the incident. The interview also involves the consequences of 34A ops (operations by the South Vietnamese Navy and Marines against North Vietnamese shore defenses, logistically supported by the US) and rebuts the accounts of others that claim the events of 4 August did not include an attack by the North Vietnamese Navy. Finally, Frick describes the effects the Tonkin incident had on his commanding officer’s career and comments on the “Rules of Engagement.”

On September 18, 1947 the US Air Force was officially created and today the Air Force turns 62. The Vietnam Center & Archive would like to wish the Air Force a very Happy Birthday, and to thank all the service men and women past and present for their service and sacrifice.

In honor of the Air Forces 62nd birthday, please enjoy a few Air Force items from the Vietnam Archive’s collections.

VA 000931 First Air Force F-4 Navigator Completes 100 Missions Over North - Southeast Asia - Major Ronald C. Herrick (left), congratulates his back-seater, Captain Herbert Altman (center) upon completion of his 300th combat mission over the Southern Panhandle of North Vietnam. Altman was the first F-4 Navigator to have completed 100 combat missions over North Vietnam. Douglas Pike Photograph Collection VA002240 South Vietnamese Air Force VNAF 254 Fighter Squadron, Nha Trang US Air Force advisors help train the Vietnamese airmen stationed at the Nha Trang Air Training Center. 1969 Douglas Pike Photograph Collection

Thai Radar Controller 21 May 1969 U. S.-Thailand Radar Control Assures Tight Air Defense Around Udorn. As pilots wait in the ready rooms, the controllers scan their radar scopes when an unidentified aircraft comes along. The USAF 621st Tactical Control Squadron then scramble their supersonic F-102’s to meet the air craft. 1:58 min/sec

(USAF, CIA) James King Overman enlisted in the US Air Force at age 18, and after training as a mechanic he qualified for pilot training. He flew B-26 aircraft on patrols of the 38th Parallel in Korea 1954-55 and spent six years as an instructor in the Training Command at Randolph AFB. During 1965-67 he was assigned to the 817 Troop Carrier Squadron, Naha AB, Okinawa, with TDY postings to Da Nang and Ubon, Thailand. He flew ‘Blind Bat’ missions as a night forward air controller over the DMZ and North Vietnam. During 1970-71, as part of the 16th SOS, he flew nighttime interdiction missions over Laos and South Vietnam in AC-130 gunships, as well as High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) flights and a bombing mission over Cambodia. At his retirement from active duty in 1972 Jim was one of the most highly decorated Native American pilots in US Air Force history. During the 1970s and 1980s Jim flew on a contract basis for the Central Intelligence Agency, including evacuation flights from Phnom Penh, Da Nang, and Saigon in 1975.

(USAF) (POW) Congressman Sam Johnson served two tours with the USAF in Vietnam. During his first tour (1965-1966) he served at MACV headquarters in Saigon in the Emergency Action Center. During his second tour (1966-1973) he served in Ubon, Thailand, flying an F-4 on trail interdiction and bombing missions in Laos and North Vietnam. Congressman Johnson was shot down while flying over North Vietnam 1966 and he spent nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War; three of those years were spent in solitary confinement. Congressman Johnson is also author of, “Captive Warriors”, which details his POW experience.

The Vietnam Center and Archive is now on Facebook. Become a fan and keep up with the latest happenings at the Center and Archive, find out about upcoming events, see pictures from past events, make comments, and connect with other Vietnam Center and Archive supporters.

To assist researchers studying the topic of agent orange during and after the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Center and Archive has produced a new subject guide highlighting agent orange related resources in both our digital and physical collections. The subject guide is divided by media type and subcategory, and includes links to the digital objects when available. This is the first in a series of subject guides that we will produce over the next year.

Do you have family heirlooms in need of proper storage, but aren’t sure what to do with them? Are you interested in, or want to learn more about the archival profession? Then don’t miss this exciting opportunity!

Kickoff Event: Thursday October 16, 2008, 3:00pm – 5:30pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Building. Attend a presentation about archives and then take a behind the scenes tour of both archival facilities.

Preserving Your Family Records Workshop Series: Tuesday October 21, 2008, 11:00am – 6:30pm in the Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Building. The series will include workshops focusing on the basic preservation of paper, photographs, textiles, audio-visuals and digital materials. Workshops will be followed by a one on one, in depth question and answer forum with archival professionals.

Researchers familiar with our Virtual Vietnam Archive have probably seen their fair share of the “Ghostbusters” like sign above and many have probably wondered what that sign really means.

The red sign means that a document is not available online. Why is it not available some might ask? There are two reasons for seeing the dreaded red sign. One, the document is copyrighted. Due to the stipulations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, copyrighted documents can be digitized as a form of preservation, but can not be redistributed in that format. This stipulation means that while we can scan the document to PDF or electronic form, we can not redistribute the electronic version over the internet or by burning it to a CD and giving it to someone else. Providing electronic versions of copyrighted documents to a third party constitutes a violation of the copyright law.

The second reason for seeing the little red sign is that the material in question has not been digitized yet. Many items are difficult and time consuming to digitize, video and microfilm are primary examples, or may be too fragile to digitize. Because these materials take so long to digitize, we create documents for them in the virtual archive so they are accessible via reference request.

The real issue out of all the red sign business is how do I get a copy of those materials? For paper documents you can request a copy be mailed to you. Send us a Reference Request from our web page with a list of the item numbers and item titles and we will make photocopies of the documents and mail them to your home. For videos and photographs we can make copies of the materials, but only if they are not copyrighted. If the videos and photos are copyrighted you will have to order copies of them from the copyright owner. Reproduction and postage fees do apply for reproduction requests. See our price list for the current charges.

This is the conclusion of a three part series on ways to access the digitized materials of the Vietnam Archive without using the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page (see Part I and Part II).

Other methods to access digital materials include our Teachers Resources Web, which, under the Subject Searches section, includes links to digital materials on a variety of subjects, including historical figures and equipment. These subject searches are setup for Primary, Secondary, and College level users.

We also have a Resources by Topic section of our site that contains links to bibliographies on a variety of subjects related to Vietnam and the Vietnam War. Some of these bibliographies include links to subject searches on the topic, or oral histories or collection finding aids related to the subject. We are currently working on expanding the section of our site with new subject guides.

Finally, for researchers interested in the conferences and symposia offered by the Vietnam Center, pages have been created providing links to the videos of each conference (when available). These links can be found on the Past Conferences, Symposia, and Events page.

We are always striving to make our site as useful and user-friendly as possible. If you have any suggestions or requests, please feel free to email us at vawebmaster@ttu.edu, or use on online survey.

The newest method we have added to our site is through our new RSS Feed (see earlier posting of June 11, 2008). This feed will allow users to view the previous day’s newly added records, or records that were updated with new information. A link to the RSS Feed can be found on our homepage.

If you are interested in maps, there is a search page that exclusively searches our map collection. This page functions in much the same way as the Virtual Vietnam Archive search page (through which maps can also be accessed), but also includes additional search features such as latitude/longitude, country, and scaled. Links to gazetteers are provided to assist researchers in determining coordinates for towns or villages. There is also a “Navigate the Country” section that allows users to click through a map of North or South Vietnam to the province level, and see the individual 1:50000 AMS maps for that province. These maps are all linked together within the records as well, so users can navigate from map to map without returning to the search page. This linking can be found in the “More Information” section of each record.

One way to access digital materials, or just to browse through the holdings of the Vietnam Archive, is through the Browse the Collections page. This section of our website contains alphabetical listings of all of the collections in the Vietnam Archive (arranged by last name for individuals, or first word for other collection types). Each browse page contains some basic information about the collection, including a Scope and Content note (when available) that provides an overview of what the collection contains. There is also a link to the full finding aid for the collection (a finding aid is basically an inventory of the collection). When materials from a particular collection have been digitized, links will be provided at the bottom of the finding aid to the digital materials. Please note, though, that due to system limitations, these links will only generate up to 250 records. To access the remainder of a collection, you will have to utilize the Virtual Archive search page. Additionally, the finding aid will have a link to an oral history if one has been conducted with the donor of the collection. A link to Browse the Collections can be found on our homepage.

Speaking of Oral Histories, there is also a Browse the Oral History Interviews page (link available on the homepage). This page is arranged alphabetically by last name of the interviewee, includes a description of each interview, and links to listen to the audio of the interview and/or a transcript, when available. In addition to the browse pages, there are also pages listing just interviews or collections added within the last few months.

I’ll post more ways to access digital materials here next week. (see Part II, Part III)